The bonus is periodically earned and complements remuneration, meaning it is not an indemnification and thus triggers the levying of the social security contributions
The Supreme Federal Court (STF) ruled that the decision that authorized the collection of social security contributions on the constitutional vacation bonus (one third of the vacation) should only take place from the date of the judgment's minutes publication, which occurred in September 15, 2020.
It means that the Federal Government may only collect these taxes from that date onwards.
In this sense, taxpayers that filed judicial lawsuits to discuss the matter before the specified date should also be entitled to recover the taxes unduly paid prior to it, or to not be charged by the Federal Revenue for any eventual unpaid taxes.
Revisiting the case, in August 2020, the STF decided that social security contributions on the vacation bonus is constitutional. According to the Court's understanding, the bonus is periodically earned and complements remuneration, meaning it is not an indemnification and thus triggers the levying of the social security contributions.
This decision represented a significant change of understanding of the Courts at that time, specially the Superior Court of Justice and, now, considering this situation, the Supreme Court decided to modulate the effects of such ruling.
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